Corrosion of steels in steel reinforced concrete in cassava juice

The corrosion of two types of construction steels, ST60Mn and RST37-2°, in a low cyanide concentration environment (cassava juice) and embedded in concrete had been studied. The ST60 Mn was found to be more corrosion resistant in both ordinary water and the cassava juice environment. The cyanide in cassava juice does not attack the steel but it provides an environment of lower pH around the steel in the concrete which leads to breakdown of the passivating film provided by hydroxyl ions from cement. Other factors such as the curing time of the concrete also affect the corrosion rates of the steel in the concrete. The corrosion rate of the steel directly exposed to cassava juice i.e., steel not embedded in concrete is about twice that in concrete. Long exposure of concrete structure to cassava processing effluent might result in deterioration of such structures. Careful attention should therefore be paid to disposal of cassava processing effluents, especially in a country like Nigeria where such processing is now on the increase. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information.